Asia Trip

I believe that going to Asia (Singapore and Hong Kong) is like going to an alternate universe where clubs are easy to get in, sleep is an option, and work is something people do on the side of living it up.

I didn't think that my body could handle four days where:
- 2 nights I had 4 hours sleep
- 1 night I had 1 hour sleep
- 1 night I had no sleep as I got home at 6am, packed and went to the airport to go to Hong Kong (thanks for having me at your place Anton!)

Not surprisingly, I slept 14 of the 15 hours on the plane, and then another 12 hours when I got back home. I read somewhere that you can make up for lost sleep if it is done within the week of when the lack of sleep occurred :)

It was great fun. Both more livable than I had previously thought (maybe I'm easily influenced) and offering more than just the standard party / shop / eat combo. I was surprised to hear of hiking trails around Hong Kong, and we went out on a boat cruise to Clearwater Bay, which was a very relaxing experience.

Of course, the best part was catching up with friends, both local and overseas visitors, as well as my family there. My grandma (my mom's mom) is as sprightly as ever. Best conversation of the trip:

Me: "So you have to tell mom that I've been good here in Hong Kong" (this was after my grandma sees me coming home at 10am)
Grandma: "You know that I can't lie!"
My Aunty: "Well, you could say that Kev was good during the times that you were awake."

Indeed!

Sydney

The fact that I have a ton more work meetings in Sydney could mean two things:
1. People like meetings in Sydney and talk through collaboratively
2. I am a real nigel in New York.

It's great to be back, and having two weeks means, for both work and play, there is a bit more time to enjoy it. I have again sampled the goods of the fish market (so fresh!) and visited the old haunts of Privilege (so cheap!). Family is good, friends are good, work is good. Everything is just...good.

And perhaps that is why I'm not so keen on coming back here quite yet. It feels like settling and I'm not ready to settle. I feel like doing challenging things, to get out there amongst it, to have stories to tell my kids. Whether that is in New York or not, that probably depends on the job. But New York seems a good place to start.

The time constraint of my stay there had previously not felt as tight as it does now. It's time to hit it.

Sunday Art

So I "performed" in a street art production on Sunday. Here was the instructional blurb:

Each participant will carry a sign bearing different slogans taken from my stream-of-consciousness writings. Participants will be posted a couple of blocks away and when instructed will carry their sign with conviction and determination towards the gallery to create a silent picket line that slowly swells from on lone picketer to hopefully a group of up to 20 picketers. They will silently move back and forth in this formation until the lead picketer walks away and they will disperse one by one away from the gallery until the space is left empty.

It was part of this Rececssional performance, where groups of people would tour around a few galleries and different "movement art" things would be happening. You can tell that I'm not an artist as I suck at describing these things.

It doesn't mention that I had to have masking tape over my mouth, but that's a minor detail.

Having never protested anything in my life, it's a strange feeling to be stared at when I'm holding up a sign. I can see how people would feel empowered by protesting, but it would be quite dismal if you were the only picketer. The lack of noise (with the masking tape and the silence of the crowd) made the performance stronger, I think.

Back to the to do list for NYC....Public performance: check.

Wii

When people would as me about consoles, I would say "Wii was a console for party games such as Wii tennis, Wii boxing etc. It's good for a few laughs but it's not a true gaming console, as the single player games aren't that good".

So whilst in Toronto with my relos, there was a Wii console that my cousin had. Yes we played some tennis and boxing, but when everyone left I had to entertain myself. Luckily for me my cousin had this massive collection of Wii games.

And one game I played was Super Mario Galaxy. I was amazed at the execution of the game, and how well they used the contollers with their motion sensors. The sheer originality of the moves, from spinning the Wii remote to spin Mario, balancing Mario of a boulder to do a course, made it such an enjoyable experience that I ended up playing half the game until 2am :)

Is it worth getting a console for one game? Probably not, but I do have a lot more respect for the Wii now.

Dad

Having my dad here has been great fun, good to catch up and talk about the usual things: stocks, work, family. Like all good asian parents, they will put freely give their advice on matters both personal and professional. Sometimes the advice is good, sometimes it is bad. In either case, it's up to me to act on any advice. We have gotten to a point where he knows I'm not going to do everything he says, but I also hope that he knows that I won't always do the opposite of it either.

I know they worry about me, and that I should be living closer to home. I think every single person that lives overseas has this feeling to "do the right thing" and be with family. One day I will, but not today. I think that being here forces me to work out what I want, without the easy support structures that Sydney provides. It's a learning experience I don't want to let go of.

Of course he is sad at what happened and I think he now knows all sides of the story. Honesty is a great thing, and I'm glad I shared with him the full story. There should be no secrets in a family.

Next stop is Toronto, to go and say hi to grandma and meet some other relos. I might even get some quality Chinese!

Rollercoaster

If there's one thing that I have learned being single, it's that there is much less of a consistency to life. Really it is just higher highs and lower lows, and that's tough sometimes, especially when in a foreign city.

There is an unrivaled freedom in being single. Going hard on a Tuesday night, staying in on a Saturday, meet up with people on the spur of the moment...don't get me wrong, being in a relationship does not prevent you in any way from doing this, it's usually prior plans and consideration for your partner that would limit the number of those "why the heck not?" questions being answered in the positive. The calendar becomes a lot more fluid when I am single.

Of course, the loneliness can be quite depressing. Waiting for friends to call you back, staying in on Saturday because there are no plans, it's quite easy to spiral downwards with those "what am I doing here?" questions. This is the first time I have lived by myself as well, which magnifies these thoughts as there is no one to interact with. On the positive side, It is also a learning experience. To be able to rely on myself, back myself, it's something that I am slowly learning. At least my cooking is getting better!

The possible key is to just fill up the calendar with activities. Stop waiting for things to happen and make them happen myself. Let's see how that turns out. Acting class starts Monday.

Yoga In All Its Glory

I've had a neck injury (putting on my shoe, of all things) that's stopping me from continuing on the P90X regime. For some reason the tweaked neck hasn't gone away, and it's been about 4 weeks since I stopped. It's quite sad, all that effort from the last few months gone.

Of course, I haven't given up yoga, so there's still some exercising.
I got myself a yoga mat for home, so I'm still hitting that DVD, although some of the moves are proving even more difficult than usual.

A friend of mine was amused that I'm doing yoga at home on a DVD. Perhaps I'm training up so one day I can go to these actual yoga classes around the city and look the part. She did shock me by telling me about naked yoga. New York, being the city that it is, has its own website on the matter.

It got me thinking...I'm having enough trouble with concentrating on the moves now, if some guy does the downward dog in front of me, how in the world is that considered relaxing and therapeutic?

Hiatus

It's been about a month since the last entry. Many things have happened, some sadder than others. To everyone who has sent a "how you doing" email or call, much appreciated. Onwards and upwards is the motto.

So some enjoyable things that have happened over the last few weeks:
1. Attended my first Comic Convention (ComicCon) in New York. Surprisingly dominated by a lot of video game displays, although there were a substantial "Artist's Alley" where people were doing their sketching thing. Got to meet the authors of Penny Arcade, which was cool.

How awesome is this Yoda?



2. Skiing at Mont Tremblant. 8 hour drive across the US border through to Quebec. Unfortunately super cold temperatures (-20 celsius!) and a lack of snow meant that skiing was not that enjoyable, with multiple injuries to our party. Yes, I attempted another 180. No, it did not go very well. Yes, it was under a chairlift.

A panoramic of the place we stayed at.



3. Moving to the new place. East Village is where I'm now located, so no more walking to work, but I'm close to the train station so it's all good. I have made multiple trips to Ikea (the food there is great) and I'm getting much better at using a powerdrill. I'm quite happy with it, although my boss (visiting from Sydney) was shocked at what I was paying for rent, as all people who do not live in New York are! It's my place and it's good to settle in.

I've attached a view from the window out to the street. Probably the last of the snow for this year. Note: we had a "Snow Day" in NYC first time in 5 years, which means kids can stay home. It was only 9 inches.



Other things worth mentioning:
1. Boston vs Knicks game at Madison Square Garden (obviously Knicks lost)
2. Lovely roast beef made by Janey at Janey and Stephen's place
3. Yet another round of Benjamin Steakhouse. I think they recognise me now!

Full set of photos here.

Brick Fun

The good thing about living in the Northeast is the accessibility of the snows. A $73 ticket gets you a bus ride and all day mountain pass to some decent places. Add another $35 for the gear, and you're all set.

Unfortunately the gear was a bit rubbish this time (no edge on the skis) leading to a lack of ability to go down the slopes as quickly as I would like. Still, it was a sunny day, wasn't too cold, couldn't ask for more.

So not being able to hit the steep slopes (and it was a bit icy), the natural next choice is to go to the terrain park. My 180s are doing ok, but these brick walls were a new obstacle.

When one cannot visualise what the outcome of the trick should be, bad things happen.

The back of my skis actually caught into the snow at the bottom where the brick wall meets the snow and I landed on my ass. Man that hurt.

Of course, that didn't stop me from trying to go backwards into the brick wall. Lesson #101: Need speed.

December Photos

Are up, click here:

Yes they are quality.